Construction of Digital Education Infrastructure: Demands,
Technologies and Plans
Shijie Wang
a
and Fuan Wen
b
Beijing Key Laboratory of Network System and Network Culture, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications,
Beijing, China
Keywords: Digitization of Education, New Infrastructure For Education, Key Technologies, Construction Plans, Digital
Twin.
Abstract: With the advent of the 5G era, various technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, cloud
computing, Internet of Things, and virtual reality have been continuously updated and iterated, providing
technical support for the construction of digital education infrastructure. However, the standards of these
infrastructures are still not unified, resulting in different directions and uneven quality of education digital
transformation. Therefore, starting from the background of education digital transformation, this paper
introduces the current situation of education digital development at home and abroad, describes the policy
direction of new education infrastructure, and deeply explores six aspects and twenty directions of education
digital infrastructure construction. The following section of this article discusses key technologies used to
construct the infrastructure for digital education and offers a four-layer technical framework. Finally,
construction plans are suggested for the development of future educational infrastructure: physical space
and its digital twin; digital resources in virtual space; and new digital education management. This paper has
important reference value for the future education digital infrastructure construction, and also plays a certain
role in promoting the development of the future education metaverse.
a
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3798-7198
b
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4988-0443
1 INTRODUCTION
The integration of digital technology and education
is progressing in an unavoidable direction, and the
digital transformation of education is a key strategy
to support future innovation and reform in
education. Some nations create pertinent educational
plans. Based on the development of students'
individualized education and lifelong learning, the
"Stanford 2025" educational plan developed by the
United States replaces the traditional old concept
with a new concept fit for comprehensive talents in
the new era (Stanford, 2025). The EU published the
Action Plan for Digital Education (2021–2027) in
September 2020 with the goal of promoting the
alignment of education and training with the systems
of member states (European Commission, 2020). It
outlines a single European vision for high-quality,
inclusive, and accessible digital education.
Introducing the digital era. The "Key Points of
Digital Transformation of Education and Training"
document, published by the European Union in July
2022, makes the suggestion that different learning
environments should be created to support the study
and learning of educators, both teachers and
students. India's National Education Policy (2020),
which aims to make the country a global knowledge
power, is based on the global educational ecology
and the development trend of future education
(Wang et al., 2020). It was suggested in the "14th
Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social
Development of the People's Republic of China and
the Outline of Vision 2035" on March 12, 2021, to
insist on giving priority to the development of
education, improve people's quality of life, promote
people's all-around development, and fully exploit
the benefits of online education in order to improve
the system for lifelong learning and create a learning
society (New China News Agency, 2021).
Wang, S. and Wen, F.
Construction of Digital Education Infrastructure: Demands, Technologies and Plans.
DOI: 10.5220/0011914600003613
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on New Media Development and Modernized Education (NMDME 2022), pages 513-519
ISBN: 978-989-758-630-9
Copyright
c
2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
513
The current digital transformation of education is
still in its infancy, according to domestic researchers
like Zhu Zhiting, and the obvious place to start for
this transition is for education to adapt to the
external environment and internal development (Zhu
et al., 2022). The development status and practical
difficulties of digital educational resources have
been sorted out by academics like Ke Qingchao,
who have also interpreted and explained the three
main construction directions of new resources and
tools, resource supply systems, and resource
supervision systems (Ke et al., 2021). Although
academics have expressed their own perspectives
throughout the research on the digital transformation
of education, none of their research content has
clarified the demands and plans for the creation of a
digital education infrastructure. As a result, this
paper summarizes the standards of the education
digital infrastructure from many angles and
thoroughly condenses and excavates the substance
of the new national education infrastructure. In order
to provide guidance for the direction of education
digitalization transformation, construction plans of
education digitalization infrastructure are proposed
after researching the already-existing standards
connected to their construction.
2 STANDARDS RELATED AND
CONSTRUTION DEMANDS
In this paper, after consulting a variety of materials,
we have screened out the core standards and
specifications related to the content of digital
education in education. (Table 1).
Table 1: Standards and specifications related to education digital construction
Number
Release
Time
Name Content
1
December
2019
Information Technology -
General Specification for
Virtual Reality Head Mounted
Display Devices
This standard specifies the classification, basic
requirements, test methods, inspection rules and
signs, packaging, transportation and storage of
virtual reality head-mounted display devices.
2 March 2021
Specification for Digital
Campus Construction of
Colleges and Universities
(Trial)
The specification requires the coordinated
development of digital campus infrastructure,
information resources, application systems,
network security, and security systems to avoid
information islands.
3
October
2021
Data Center Digital Twin
Technical Specification
The group standard specifies the basic
requirements for digital twins of data center
infrastructure, the classification of digital twins,
and the application and evaluation of digital twins.
4
January
2022
General Specification for
Virtual Reality Teaching
Resources
This specification is applicable to the evaluation
of virtual reality teaching resources in three
aspects: subject construction, teaching function,
and technical indicators, as well as the
comprehensive evaluation of one or a series of
virtual reality teaching resources.
Through the above standards, we have a
preliminary understanding of various cutting-edge
technologies and application standards related to the
construction of education digitalization, but they are
not systematic and complete, and we cannot have a
comprehensive understanding of the construction of
education digitalization infrastructure.
The China's Ministry of Education and the other
six departments recommended to follow innovation
and leadership in their "Guiding Opinions on
Promoting the Construction of New Educational
Infrastructure and Building a High-quality Education
Support System" on July 21, 2021. Deeply
implement 5G, AI, big data, cloud computing,
blockchain, and other new generation information
technologies, fully exploit data's potential as a new
factor of production, and advance education's digital
transformation (The Ministry of Education, 2021).
This paper digs deep from the aforementioned
published documents, with six aspects and twenty
directions (Figure 1).
NMDME 2022 - The International Conference on New Media Development and Modernized Education
514
Figure 1: New infrastructure construction demands for education
The national policy in the area of education,
which is a significant sector to drive new
infrastructure, is extended by the new infrastructure
for education, which is not just a demand inside the
educational system. The development of new
networks, platforms, security, resources, campuses,
and apps is a key component of the new education
infrastructure, which aims to create a new generation
of infrastructure that is tailored to the needs of the
education sector in the modern period. In this view,
the new educational infrastructure heralds the actual
advent of education information technology 3.0,
which will significantly aid in the creation of
high-quality educational systems and educational
development methods like a learning society. The
goal of the new educational infrastructure, according
to Zhu Zhiting and others is to create a digital
education ecosystem with a full system, thorough
optimization, and sustainable development (Zhu et
al., 2021). Along with initial demands, the technical
factors of education digital building must be taken
into account.
3 KEY TECHNOLOGIES OF
DIGITAL EDUCATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
This study suggests a four-layer framework of key
technologies for the creation of digital education
infrastructure through the aforementioned
construction plan. (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Framework of key technologies for digital education infrastructure
The network layer, which comprises mostly
technologies like 5G/6G, cloud computing, the
Internet of Things, and information sensing, is the
top layer (Li et al., 2018). This layer is the
fundamental network assurance for future digital
education, which not only helps students access a
variety of digital resources instantly but also
significantly boosts the quality of instruction. The
Construction of Digital Education Infrastructure: Demands, Technologies and Plans
515
construction layer, which makes up the majority of
the second layer, is composed primarily of
technologies like digital twin, virtual simulation,
AIGC, and knowledge graph. As was already
mentioned, the future educational setting combines
the physical and digital worlds. A virtual classroom
is built with the aid of digital twins. In a virtual
simulation environment, teachers and students can
simultaneously conduct a number of experiments
while creating a customised learning environment
for chemical processes. Students will connect the
educational information from many locations
through the built-in educational space, create a
systematized knowledge structure, and help to better
synthesize and summarize the knowledge they have
acquired. The XR, motion capture, brain-computer
interface, and AI interaction make up the interaction
layer, the third layer, respectively. Students' learning
habits will be significantly altered by this layer as
they use XR technology to study knowledge
anywhere and at any time in the virtual world
(ProQuest, 2019). At the same time, cutting-edge
activities are carried out using brain-computer
interface and intelligent interactive technology, and
feedback from virtual teaching assistants enables
people to learn and develop. The management layer,
which comprises big data, AI management,
distributed storage, and blockchain technology, is
the fourth layer. This layer primarily assists
education administrators in storing and managing
different teaching data, teacher and student
information, etc., as well as managing the classroom
environment and teaching resources in a coordinated
manner. Second, blockchain technology can be
specifically used for intra-campus payments, digital
certification, multi-step certification, automatic
recognition and credit transfer, multi-step
certification, multi-step certification, and student
financial aid. This would ensure the high-quality
development of education and considerably increase
the management of education efficiency.
After construction demands and technical
framework of Digital Education Infrastructure are
clarified, this study begins with the future
development of education and comprehensively
outlines the construction plan of education digital
infrastructure in three aspects: physical space, virtual
space, and teaching management. This is in
accordance with the aforementioned norms as well
as the six aspects and twenty directions in the policy
document.
4 THE CONSTRUCTION PLAN
OF DIGITAL EDUCATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
This study divides the development of digital
education infrastructure into three main directions:
physical space and its digital twin, digital resources
in virtual spaces and new digital education
management. Physical spaces include classrooms,
laboratories, libraries, creative rooms,
communication areas, and other places on campus.
By mapping out the appropriate twin space and
sending back the information data of the physical
environment in real time, these actual locations
create a dynamic digital twin of the entire physical
space. Online, offline, and virtual simulation
materials are all included in the category of teaching
resources. These resources add to the virtual
environment that the digital twin has generated
while also receiving input from the virtual
environment. The picture below depicts the total
construction plan for the education digital
infrastructure. (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Construction framework of digital education infrastructure
NMDME 2022 - The International Conference on New Media Development and Modernized Education
516
4.1 Physical Space and Its Digital Twin
In order to complete the development of education
digitalization, the physical space should first be
founded on intelligent hardware equipment. To
ensure that teachers or students can see the content
of the virtual scene in real time, the first step in
terms of hardware standards is to install a sizable 3D
screen. The second is the XR head display, which is
now how users access the virtual environment (Zhao
et al., 2020). Equipment for motion capture is the
third. The process data of teaching and learning is
the most crucial component of digital education. The
classroom behavior data table is then produced to
describe the teachers' and students' classroom using
motion capture technology. This allows for the
real-time collection of behavior data from teachers
or pupils. Using behavioral portraiture can help
teachers educate and students learn. These pieces of
hardware serve as the foundation for all scenes set in
real space. Other scene types can also add
accessories that reflect the features of their
respective settings. For instance, a virtual lab may
provide unique experimental tools, and a maker area
could add 3D printers that let students create their
own designs. (Table 2).
Table 2: Construction content of physical space and its
digital twin
As
p
ect Construction content
Learning
Space
Fully Digital Classroom, Virtual
Laboratory, Smart Cloud Library, Smart
Maker Space, Learning and
Communication Communities, Digital
Twin Campus
Hardware
3D Screen, XR Head Display, Motion
Capture Device, 3D Printer, etc
Function
Human-machine Collaboration,
Personalized Learnin
g
In terms of functionality, for teachers and
students to use these digital twin learning spaces
effectively, they must have elements that support
human-computer collaboration. Additionally, they
must offer features for personalized learning so that
instructors and students can create their own unique
environments for instruction and learning. Thirdly,
intelligent teaching assistant functions need to be
developed to help teachers and students answer
questions at any time.
4.2 Digital Resources in Virtual Space
Online knowledge sources and virtual simulation
resources are two types of digital resources in the
virtual environment. Online teaching resources fall
under the first category and typically include
teaching design documents, microlectures, online
practice questions, and other materials. Teachers'
design concepts for the entire course are typically
included in instructional design documents.
Microlectures primarily assist students in grasping
some information elements beforehand.
Micro-classes in middle schools last for 10-15
minutes, while those in primary schools last for 5–10
minutes. Students can pick the online practice
questions they require because they are typically
hand chosen or intelligently suggested through the
question bank.
Virtual simulation resources, which often fall
into three categories: panoramic resources, 3D
simulation resources, and scientific simulation
resources, make up the second category. First, the
simulation model must be able to replicate the
system's or object's objective structure, function, and
motion law (Liu et al., 2017). Second, the scene
presentation must be based on the esse
ntial parts, choose
the proper content and form, and utilize the goal of
experimental education as the guiding principle.
Reflect the experimental setting, and motion-related
equations must follow established rules, etc.
Minimum and recommended virtual resource
package sizes are within 300 MB and 100 MB,
respectively. Refresh the display at a rate of 30
frames per second. Recommendations for the
experimental environment's fidelity: The
experimental environment closely resembles the
actual experimental surroundings stated in the
design script on the basis of adhering to the actual
scenario and common sense. Recommendations for
experimental outcomes: The experimental results
should be presented in vivid colors, sound effects,
text, and other techniques to ensure that they are
accurate. Serious flaws in the experimental process
should be clearly shown with warnings. Since there
is now no authoritative standard for virtual
simulation resources, threshold access rules must be
established for virtual simulation experiment
teaching resources, and high-level,
disciplinary-advantageous virtual simulation
teaching resources must constantly be improved.
Table 3: Construction content of digital resources in
virtual space
Aspect Construction content
Type
Online Knowledge Resources,
Virtual Simulation Resources
Character
Simulation, Reliability, Fidelity,
Convenience
Construction of Digital Education Infrastructure: Demands, Technologies and Plans
517
4.3 New Digital Education
Management
The better completion of the construction plan will
be encouraged by appropriate management
techniques. In this study, a brand-new framework for
managing digital education is proposed. It includes
machine-assisted management and manual-decision
management. (Table 4).
Table 4: Construction content of new digital education
management
Aspect Construction content
Mode
Machine-assisted Management,
Manual-decision Management
Character
Automation, Unification,
Datamation
Machine-assisted management will be an
important management model for digital education.
To facilitate the automation of the smart education
process, Palanivel et al. advocated integrating RPA
into the educational system (Palanivel et al., 2020).
The burden of teachers' non-teaching responsibilities
is lightened by assigning a large number of
labor-intensive, repetitive, and time-consuming
campus administrative activities to software robots.
Teachers will then have more time and energy to
devote to their work of instructing and educating
others. In order to manage teacher teaching courses
and student learning, intelligent machines are
simultaneously utilized to collect data on the
processes of student learning and teacher teaching.
Teachers instruct students using objective data,
while students give feedback. (Figure 4). Reforming
the way the educational system evaluates students is
also necessary, as are developing data collection
standards, standards for data interoperability,
standards for comprehensive quality student data
collection across all domains, and standards for the
development of new student ability types. On the
other hand, manual-decision management involves
making choices regarding the organization of some
important instructional activities and the revision of
talent training management. People are still required
for important educational tasks because present
intelligent technology only has limited artificial
intelligence.
Figure 4: Evaluation structure of education digitalization
5 CONCLUSIONS
Since the digital transformation of education is still
in its early stages, it is crucial to assess its
requirements and create development plans. Based
on the background of education digital
transformation, the guidance document for new
educational infrastructure is thoroughly examined
and analyzed and the construction plan and key
technologies of education digital infrastructure are
described in this paper. The application of
Metaverse in the field of education allows for the
creation of digital identities for teachers, students,
managers, and other stakeholders, as well as the
opening up of formal and informal learning
environments in the virtual world and the interaction
of instructors and students there. With the
widespread use and advancement of network
technology, the education metaverse will gradually
become a reality for us. Experts and academics in
the field of education should assist the government
in top-level design, assist businesses in precisely
locating, develop standards for the building of
necessary infrastructure, plan ahead, make
deployments early, and usher in a new era of digital
education networks.
[ Project fund support: This article was supported by
the Teaching Reform Project for Graduate
Education, No. 2021Y045 ]
REFERENCES
European Commission. Digital education action plan
2021-2027[EB/OL].[2020-12-07].https://eur-lex.europ
a.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020
DC0624&from=EN.
Ke Qingchao, Lin Jian, Ma Xiufang, Bao Tingting. The
construction direction and development path of digital
education resources in the era of new education
NMDME 2022 - The International Conference on New Media Development and Modernized Education
518
infrastructure[J].Electrical Education Research,202
1,42(11):48-54.DOI:10.13811/j.cnki.eer.2021.11.007.
Liu Yafeng, Su Li, Wu Yuanxi, Yu Longjiang. Principles
and Standards of Virtual Simulation Teaching
Resources Construction[J].Experimental Technology
and Management,2017,34(05):8-10.
DOI:10.16791/j.cnki.sjg.2017.05.003 .
Li S, Xu L D, Zhao S.5G Internet of Things:A
Survey[J].Journal of Industrial Information
Integration, 2018 (10) :1-9.
New China News Agency. About the Outline of the
Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and
Social Development of the People's Republic of China
and the Outline of Vision 2035 [2021.3.13]
https://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2021-03/13/content55926
81.html.
ProQuest. Emerging Trends in Education Sector in
2019[DB/OL].[2019-03-11].https://search.proquest.co
m/docview/2159992511?accountid=146575.
Palanivel,K.,& Joseph,K.S.(2020),Robotic process
automation to smart education[J].International Journal
of Creative Research Thoughts,8(6):3775-3784.
Stanford2025. About [EB/OL].[2016-04-26].
https://www.stanford2025.com.
The Ministry of Education and other six departments.
2021-07-08 Guiding Opinions on Promoting the
Construction of New Educational Infrastructure and
Building a High-quality Education Support System
[EB/OL].[2021-08-04].http://www.moe gov. cn/srcsite
/A16/s3342/202107/420210720_545783.html.
Wang Jianliang, Wang Xiuwen. Strategic Guidelines for
Educational Development in India in the Next 20
Years——Based on the Analysis of India's "National
Education Policy (2020)"[J].Tsinghua University
Education Research, 2021,42(02):106-116.
Zhao Jingwei, Bian Xigui, Gu Wenzhong. Ideas for the
construction of virtual reality functional
classrooms[J].Education and Equipment
Research,2020,v.36;No.341(12):14-18.
Zhu Zhiting, Hu Jiao. Digital Transformation of
Education: Future-Oriented Educational "Transgenic"
Project [J]. Open Education Research, 2022, 28(05):
12-19. DOI: 10.13966/j.cnki.kfjyyj.2022.05.002.
Zhu Zhiting, Xu Qiuxuan, Wu Yonghe. Requirements and
Action Suggestions for New Infrastructure Standards
for Educational Informatization [J]. China Distance
Education, 2021(10):1-11+76.
DOI:10.13541/j.cnki.chinade.2021.10.001.
Construction of Digital Education Infrastructure: Demands, Technologies and Plans
519
